Once in a While
by SakuraSyaoran4eva
Summary: Once in a while you come across the person you can’t get out of your head.Starts during Exile.What if Clark had met somebody at the club that summer when he ran away[red kryptonite]? Her name’s Annette and she’s more then she seems to be.
1. Club Ecstasy

Summary: Once in a while you come across the one person you can't get out of your head. Starts with season three's Exile. What if Clark had met somebody at the club that summer when he ran away (while under the influence of red kryptonite)? Her name's Annette and she's more then she seems to be.

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Annette leaned against the back wall of the club, foggy club smoke pooling around her in waves. She wore a tight red v-neck with no sleeves and a small black skirt with red knee high boots. Her long honey brown hair was open, running down to the small of her back.

She noticed a few of the men in the club checking her out and she alluringly smirked back at the ones that looked as if they had money. After all, that was the way she made her living – by renting her body out.

Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she forced a smile onto her face and sauntered over to one of the men. As he offered to buy her a drink, she couldn't help but wish for something else. Something better, something fun, something new.

Clark Kent punched his fist into the ATM machine, letting money pool out into the bag in his hands. He waved to the camera, his face obstructed by the mask he wore. He knew they'd never catch him even if they did find out who he was. They were all just puny humans and he – wasn't.

Chuckling as he spotted a red corvette, he pulled off the black facemask and tossed it to the floor. He crossed over to the car and forced the door open with brute force, smirking with satisfaction when the lock snapped open without resistance.

He distractedly marveled as to why nearly everyone always left an extra key set in the bottom compartment. How stupid could you be, practically begging somebody to come along and steal your car? A poster on a tree caught his eye and he glanced at it. It was a picture of Lex Luthor with the words 'Missing and Presumed Dead' stamped along the bottom.

"Hey gorgeous…" He curved his lips into a ghost of a smile when he spotted a vivacious blonde in a strapless red number on the Metropolis sidewalk.

"Headin' to Club Ecstasy. Care for a ride?" The blonde nodded eagerly, eyeing his new car as she slid in; completely unaware that Clark's x-ray vision was eyeing something as well.

"So," He started to drive. "I'm Kal-El. You?"

"Janice." She ran her fingers over the leather seat. "Leather, yum…" He chuckled, pulling up in front of the club and turning off the engine.

"Yeah." He pushed open the door and climbed out, ignoring the buzz that rose when people recognized him. In the last few months he'd managed to make quite a name for himself.

"Nice car, Kal – El!" One of the guys shouted and he grinned.

"Like it?" The man nodded and Clark tossed him the keys. "Cool. Have it – it bores me."

"Wow, you're so nice!" Janice breathed out, realizing that this meant he was probably loaded.

"Yeah. Un-huh." Clark resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Why don't you go grab us a table? Drinks are on me." Grinning happily, the blonde walked away and he made his way over to the bar. He really had no intent to ever see the blonde again.

"A particularly pretty number today, huh?" Jared, the bartender winked at him and Clark shrugged flippantly.

"I hadn't noticed." Jared nodded, handing him an iced margarita.

"What is it with you, Kal – El?" New girl in here every night, yet you always leave alone." Clark shrugged, scanning the crowd.

"Women are just generally – " He broke off as he spotted a thin scantily clad brunette arguing heatedly with a man that looked to be twice her age. "Who **is **that?"

People milled around, walking by, women pressing their bodies up against his; some others blocking his gaze on her. Clark simply moved; it seemed to him as if she were the only person in the club.

"That - " Jared nodded over to her. "is Annette. She's a frequent prostitute here." Clark felt the world freeze.

"Prostitute…" the thought of somebody touching her intimately made him want to punch something. He was broken out of his reverie by Jared's whistle.

"Well, well, well. Looks like some girl's finally caught your eye, Kal." Ignoring the bartender, Clark weaved his way around the other people in the nightclub, making his way over to the table where she sat.

"She's mine." That was a give, Clark knew. She would be his and that was that.


	2. An Appointment

Wow, pretty good turnout for the first chapter, this chapter is dedicated to Celtic Cross, my first reviewer for this story (on FFNET).

**Note: **Both Clark and Annette are sixteen in this. And just in case you don't know, review responses are at the bottom under the title 'review responses'. Just find your name (it should be underlined).

My usual updating period: I have about six and then some chapters written – but it will probably be once every ten days or so owing to the fact that I am also currently working on my other three stories. I may be able to spurt everything out faster if I get enough reviews for certain chapters.

* * *

Once in a While… 

Chapter Two: An Appointment

* * *

Annette glared at the man in front of her angrily. He was an old client, she now remembered. He was particularly rough in bed and her last night with him had left her unable to move around without feeling discomfort for weeks. 

She had no desire to repeat the experience. Unfortunately for her, the man blatantly refused to listen to answer.

"Mr. Dermir-"

"You are getting on my nerves, little girl." The man hissed at her. "I want you tonight – whether you say yes or no, I **will** have you." Annette swallowed trying to force back the panic. She knew that showing fear was not one of her options. Fear was the thing that got you raped in an ally next to a dumpster.

'I could just do a little, teeny tiny – No.' Annette knew that once she gave in to the desire to do something, her oath to abstain from it would be broken. Annette brushed her curls out of her eyes once again and gave him an angry look.

"I don't give a fuck as to what you want, Mr. Dermir." She spat between clenched teeth. "I am not available tonight." Mr. Dermir took a step forward and Annette forced herself to keep from taking a step back. "Maybe you should try the S&M club two blocks down. I'm sure they'll cater to you rather – eccentric – " Annette winced. "tastes." Mr. Dermir's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to reply but was cut off.

"Hello gorgeous…" A boy who looked about eighteen, perhaps even older, whistled at Annette; walking up to her with a swagger that told Annette he believed he owned the earth as well as all of its inhabitants.

Annette quickly ran her eyes over him. He excluded power and wealth…yet, even though the smirk on his face said else wise, there was a hint of pain in his eyes. Annette ran her fingers through her hair. She knew that she could probably use the brunette to get rid of Dermir but she also knew that bad boys were not as great as they first seemed.

"We're busy." Dermir curtly told the boy and he rolled his eyes.

"I've got an appointment." He countered smoothly and Annette's eyes narrowed at the lie. Somebody didn't seem to be playing with a full deck… "Right, baby?" Annette forced a smile unto her face.

"Yes, that's completely true." She flashed Dermir a triumphant smirk and he angrily walked away.

"So," Annette reached over, plunked his drink out of his hand and downed it in one swing. "Who are you and what do you want?" The boy smirked.

"I'm…Kal-El," She noticed that his eyes didn't shamelessly slide down her body like most men's. "and I want tonight." Annette frowned.

"Huh?" Sighing, the brunette pulled out a wallet.

"What's your rate?" Annette bit her lip. She didn't know if she wanted to go home with the brunette, yet she didn't feel up to sleeping out in the cold; it was mid-October after all.

"Twelve hundred a night." She ran her tongue over her dry lips. For some reason, she felt odd… "More for extra services." Kal-El shook his head.

"Fifty thousand for a week." Annette felt shocked. She made about thirty-six thousand a month; this offer was so much more. She'd be an idiot to refuse.

"What would I have to do?" Kal-El flashed her a self-satisfied smirk and Annette swallowed. He made her feel as if he could see right through her. See all her secrets…

"Let's go. Car's out front." Annette followed him silently, biting her lip in worry. What had she gotten herself into?

* * *

I know this is short, I always start off short – but the chapters will gradually get longer. I hope every body liked it. Roll down for review responses. Okay, so I was reading msn's TV guide and it shows Smallville at 8 tomorrow (Thursday) and – so, I looked it up and the season's already started. SO then I looked up the eps at TwizTV and SPIOLER (DON'T READ IF U HAVENT SEEN THIS YET) – Clark punched Lex! I'm so sad! Clark and Lex's friendship is one of the bigger reasons I watch SV, Clark and Lana's **shudder** relationship is not. Hopefully, Lex and Clark will make up soon…. Did you know that a now brunette James Marsters (played Spike on Btvs) will be on tomorrow's episode? James is definitely the best. 

**Review Responses:**

**Celtic Cross: **Your wish is my demand. Here's to you, my first reviewer at ff.

**Lovelyfanfics:** "I don't know what he wants with a prostitute though." You know how Romeo & Juliet looked at each other and just KNEW – well, it's like that. Only Clark sees Annette and his heart kinds knows but he doesn't really understand it. And well, Annette's not really a prostitute. She's kinda something else too… "But you would think even as Kal-El he would be less cave man with the jealousy and lust." LOL. The ring's kinda the real reason why I chose to make him so horribly jealous and possessive (with Lana he was always "I want her but can't have her. I'll just sulk about it."). When he's around Annette he just has thins thing where all his bad (and good too) features just come out.

**Max:** I'm glad I was able to hook people with only a chapter. My friend read the seven chapters I have so far and she's like "That's all you wrote? I want more!", and so things get more interesting as time goes by.

**South manager 2004:** "Where are his parents?" Hon, you watched season three of Smallville, right? Remember when he ran away? Under the influence of the ring? Yeah…his parents are at home, looking for him. We get there around chapter sevenish.


	3. The sandman and the witch

Once again, I'm delighted with the turnout for the first two chapters. I'd just like to go ahead and tell everybody that I am writing another Angel-centric fic at this time so I might take a long time to update but – I do have the first7 chapters written so you can expect me to have those up at least once every two weeks or so.

Review Responses at bottom.

* * *

Once In A While…Chapter Three: The sandman and the witch 

Summary: Why is Annette different from the usual prostitute? We're about to find out…

* * *

Annette walked into the penthouse, one step behind Kal–El. 

"There's only one bed room, the kitchen's through here and everything is pretty much explanatory." Annette nodded, knowing that if she needed something she'd just twitch it up.

"If you need – " Clark broke off, a pained look on his face, eyes gradually darkening. "I – I have to go." He pushed past her, into the bathroom.

Annette's eyes narrowed. Kal-El had seemed pained and there had been a little fear in his eyes. What was going on here?

* * *

Clark gasped in pain as the scar on his chest flared with agonizing pain. Ripping off his shirt, he examined it; trying his best to keep from screaming. He knew the only way to stop the pain was to take off the ring.

Groaning, he pried it off and tossed it on the sink ledge; struggling to breathe when the memories and guilt assaulted him. It was his fault – Lex was missing and pronounced dead - if he'd been in Smallville he might've done something to aid with the search. His parent's had lost the baby and that was his fault as well. If he'd just listened to his dad, avoided the spaceship as he'd been told to do, thing's might have turned out differently. His parents, his friends – they were all going insane with worry and that was his doing to. In the end, everything was his fault. But then again, that's how things started out to began with, right? The meteor show, all those deaths…

Somebody knocked on the door.

"Kal-El, you okay?" Clark's eyes widened. Annette – he'd completely forgotten all about her. He could ask her to leave, but for some reason, he really wanted her to stay.

"I-I'm fine!" Clark shouted back, crossing over to the phone and quickly dialing.

"Hello?" Somebody picked up and Clark tried to keep from breaking down.

'Mommy…'

"Hello? Hello?" His mother's voice sounded panicky. "Jonathon, I think it's Clark!" Clark swallowed as there was a shuffle on the other side.

" Clark, son, is that you?" His father's voice pulled Clark out of his trance and he slowly pressed down on the hang up button. "Clar-"

It was better this way, he decided. He didn't need to ruin his parents' lives even more. They would be better off if he just stayed away.

"Kal-El?" Annette's voice drifted to his ears through the door and he sighed; pulling open the bathroom door. What was he supposed to do with her?

* * *

Clark walked into the bedroom and froze in his tracks when he realized that Annette was on the bed – completely naked.

"About time, gorgeous." She drawled, propping herself up on one elbow so that Clark could have a full view of her body. After all, for fifty grand, she was willing to bet that the brunette would demand his money's worth from her.

Clark blushed, averting his eyes even though he could already feel himself hardening. He knew it would be wrong to take advantage of Annette like that.

"Something wrong?" Annette frowned at him and Clark hesitated, unsure of what to say.

"I'm – I just don't feel well." Clark lied and Annette sighed, pulling the sheet up to cover her form. "I'm sorry."

"Do you want me to leave?" She asked and Clark shook his head.

"No!" Annette's eyes widened and even Clark was surprised at how much he wanted her to stay.

"All right," Annette patted the empty space next to her body. "Come here." Clark hesitated, inhibited now that the ring was taken off, yet decided to go with impulse for once.

"Okay." Clark wasn't sure or not whether it was okay to get so close to Annette's naked body when she was so – naked – but climbed in anyway. For some reason, the idea of being close to Annette was comforting.

"Shh…" Annette whispered, pulling his head onto her sheet-clad lap. "The Sandman forgot his sand, so let me put him to sleep on my land." If Clark found her words odd, he couldn't voice it. He was fast asleep.

Annette leaned back on the bed's headboard, closing her eyes. She'd sworn off magic for good, but for some reason she'd felt the need to break her oath just to put Kal-EL to sleep.

"Mom…" Clark mumbled in his sleep and Annette smiled. Kal-El was turning out to be nothing like she'd assumed he'd be.

After all, he'd refused to have sex with her – lying badly about how he didn't feel well. But why, Annette couldn't help but wonder, would Kal-El pay her fifty thousand to do something other then warm his bed? What did he want from her?

The ring Kal-El had placed on the vanity caught her eye and she shivered slightly. It gave her a bad vibe and since she was a witch, bad vibes usually meant something bad.

"Everything has a bad feature," Annette made up the spell whimfully. "Show me your true nature." The ring glowed an eerie red and Annette smiled, pleased with her work.

"Wow, that was pretty good." She couldn't help but comment to herself. "For being out of practice anyways." She frowned. "Do feature and nature even rhyme?"

"Annette…" Kal-El moaned in his sleep, unconsciously burrowing deeper into her lap. Rubbing his back until he calmed down, Annette twitched her nose; making a glass of water appear out of thin air.

Drinking it, she set it down on the side table and lay down; unconsciously wrapping her lags around the Kal-El's upper body. For some reason, she wanted to be as close to the brunette as possible.

* * *

Okey dokey, so you guys know what's up with Annette. Things are about to get even more interesting as next chapter the two get a visit from a crimelord, visit Smallville (where Annette runs into a woman and her husband), Clark gets lost and an entire choclate sundae is consumed. Check back forchapter four; A Trophy wife. 

Review Responses: 

Scary-Girly: Love the name. "are you doing all pretty women on me?" Pretty Woman - heard of the movie, wasn't allowed to watch it. I did have somebody else ask the same question so I'm wondering - was it about a prostitute?Anyways, I did base Annette of a housewife from a 60's show. Guess which one...

Kal's Gal:Okay. Here you go.

Liz: "i love reading clark on red k fics. and this one is totaly differnet." Thanx. I hate it when my fics arethe same as everybody else's - I'm unique.

herndon: "Annette's story" Oh god...it's complicated. You get some of it in chapter six though, so that's good."i can't help but start to like her a little already" Thanks. We haven't really seen much of Annette's personality yet. She's sweet and nice and the "perfect" girl - but she also has this bad girl in her (which we say when she was talking to Mr. Dermir). I'm trying to develop heras I go on."looking forward to the rest." You know, all my reviews begged for more - which is the only reason I'm putting this chapter up early (I was going to put it up on the 28th because I update every ten days or so). So, reviewing does help get chapters out quickly - er.

Max : Let's see.. "Near the end, I was getting flashbacks of that movie "Pretty Woman" or something (with Julia Roberts?)" Somebody else asked me this too, so I'm going "Julia Roberts was a prostitute?" I was not allowed to watch the movie because my dad has this thing where he's really strict about, like, everything. I'm fifteen now (lol, when the story starts heating up and I go - If your 18 skip scenes so and so - you're gonna laugh) so I was probably way too young to watch it when it came out."I was paying more attention to my gf at the time" Aww! You're so sweet. My bf always goes 'Don't u have cheerleading practice or something?' whenever I want attention - he's totally self-absorbed. SS4EVA

Celtic Cross: Quick note: You are my fav. reviewer (just cuz I said so). "I'm your first reviewer EVER on this site! I feel honoured." Yay you! I thought I would out this up on and everybody would go 'OMG! She wrote something that isn't totally angsty?' and laugh (all the rest of the fics I have up in my profile arepretty dark -check it out if you get the chance). "What has she gotten herself into?" Lol. I can't wait to write the hilarity! "Did you know that even though I read these stories I have only ever watched about five minutes of one of one of the shows?" LOL. I've NEVER'watched' the show - Iread it. go to h t t p/ w w w . t w i z t v . c o m (retype link w/o spaces) and click on Smallville. They have all the transcripts for each ep. My parents have a 'one hour only' ruleabout the tv and I watch Veronica Mars so I can't watch it either. "something always and I mean ALWAYS comes up" Print it out and read it during school - that's what I do (only to make printing faster, make the print 6.5 and delete all the spaces between the lines)."you are doing GREAT!" See, there's a reason I love you! SS4EVA


	4. A Trophy Wife

This is a little later then planned but I've been pretty bogged down lately. I've got about seven different projects I'm working on at the moment – check out "The Notebook" . I've just put it up and there are some Smallville-centric fics there. I'm dying to know what everybody thinks of the ideas there.

* * *

Once In A While... 

Chapter Four: A Trophy Wife

* * *

Clark groaned as he came to. He was lying on something soft and warm... He smiled, burrowing his even deeper into it. It felt nice. 

"Ow!" Something exclaimed, his soft pillow moving. "Kal-El, you're kind of smothering me." Clark shot up, shocked to hear his pillow start talking.

"Annette?" Annette laughed at the comical expression on his face, rubbing her flat stomach as if in pain.

"You were expecting somebody else?" She wrapped the sheet that had somehow slipped off back around her body and Clark blushed.

"No, I just forgot…" Annette nodded distantly, stretching. Clark sat mesmerized by the way her body moved and how it curved in just the right places….

"You want me to take care of that for you?" She motioned to the slight bulge in his pants and Clark blushed even more, moving to cover himself as fast as he could without giving himself away.

"I-I-" He stammered, in much too much shock to say anything else. "Stop staring at it!" Annette burst into giggles.

"Aw! You're so adorable!" She giggled again. "I'm pretty much your sexual property for the week and you're all freaked out because I might see your penis." Clark frowned at this.

You're not anybody's property. And – " He hesitated, breaking off. He had the strangest urge to just tell her the truth about everything – who he really was, **what** he really was - but wasn't too sure about it. "My name's actually Clark." It wasn't the complete truth, Clark reflected, but it would have to do for now.

"Clark." Annette nodded. "I like it." Clark smiled and Annette smiled back at him, the two making a silent connection for a few seconds. Then a look of shocked realization crossed Annette's face and she looked away.

"Is something wrong? Clark asked and Annette shook her head, seemingly enraptured with the bed sheets that pooled around her lithe frame. Figuring that if something was wrong, she'd tell him, he got up and walked over to the vanity; slowly starting to slip the kryptonite ring on.

"No, don't!" Annette shot over to him and Clark froze.

"What?" He asked, suspicions rising. Did she know what the ring really was? He silently watched as Annette struggled to answer his question.

"I-I-" She winced. "It won't go with the rest of your outfit?" Clark frowned at this.

"I haven't changed yet." Unable to think of anything else to say, Annette nodded miserably as he slipped it on. It seemed to change his entire demeanor, Annette noted. His eyes darkened and he seemed to stand up taller.

"Clark?" Annette asked worriedly and he turned to her.

"Get dressed." He pulled on a shirt. "I'll take you out to breakfast after I get back." Annette frowned, a little confused at the sudden change in the way he was talking to her – as if he had more confidence. What exactly did the ring do to him?

"After you come back from where?" Annette asked him and Clark opened his moth to reply but was cut off by the bedroom door being thrown open.

About four men carrying automatic weapons burst into the room and started shooting; Annette screamed.

"Get down!" Clark shouted, slamming her on the bed and covering her with his body. His increased weight on her small frame put together with the sudden shock caused her to start to lose consciousness.

'No…' Annette thought, trying to keep her eyes open. ' I have to cast some sort of spell…to protect Clark…I love…' Unable to breathe any longer, Annette passed out.

* * *

"Good work!" Clapping, a middle-aged man walked into the bedroom just as Clark knocked the four men unconscious. Clark narrowed his eyes at the intruder. 

"Who are you?" The man laughed and Clark's anger grew as he thought about how this man had endangered Annette.

"Morgan Edge." He held out a business card and Clark took it, examining the formal looking card. "I caught you your little show at the ATM on tape last night. Nice punch." Clark frowned, a bit disconcerted at this information.

"I was wearing a mask." Edge shrugged. "You pulled it off before you were out of camera range." Clark rolled his eyes. So what if they'd caught him on tape? It didn't matter. He was stronger then anyone in the world, he could even annihilate them all if he wanted.

'Except Annette,' He thought unconsciously. 'I want to keep her forever…'

"I could just kill you." Clark said coldly, crossing back to where Annette's unconscious body lay.

"Your girlfriend?" Edge asked, pretending to not have heard Clark's remark as he watched Clark smooth out Annette's honey gold locks.

"None of your business." Clark said coldly and Morgan Edge nodded.

"You're right. Anyways, I have quite a lot of influence in Metropolis and a bright young man like you needs direction." Clark rolled his eyes.

"Do you have a point or are you just going to go on and on?" Edge's eyes flashed in anger at being interrupted and he cleared his throat, looking annoyed.

"We could do great things together." He looked to Clark for a name. ((We could do great things together…our friendship, Clark, it's going to be the stuff of legends))

"Kal-EL. And no, I don't think so." Clark shrugged, starting to button up his still open shirt. "I work better alone." Edge smirked, glancing around the penthouse.

"Are you sure? Because petty robberies are only going to get you so far…" Clark hesitated, how long could he convince Annette to stay for only five grand a week – especially when he expected her to do absolutely nothing except sit around and paint her nails all day?

He'd eventually have to bring in hard cash in order to convince her to stay with him as long as he wanted. For some reason, ever since he'd spotted her at the club last night, he couldn't see her on anyone else's arm except his. He wanted her. He wanted to have her, not as a bought possession, but more.

As what, he wasn't exactly sure yet.

"What would you want me to do?" Edge smiled at him like a politician who'd just won a major election.

"Nine tonight, I need you to break into a steel safe for me." Clark's eyebrows rose at this.

"Steel?" Edge shrugged.

"You punched into that ATM machine with no problem at all, didn't you?" It wasn't a question and Clark remained silent as the other man went on. "Floor Eighteen. It'll be locked but I know you can get in. There's a safe behind the book case, I want whatever's in it." Clark smirked at this.

"Must be pretty big if you're willing to trust somebody who can snap you in two before you even have time to blink." Clark drawled and the man chucked.

"Must be pretty big if you're willing to trust somebody who can snap you in two before you even blink." Clark drawled and the man chuckled, not looking at all put out by Clark's remark.

"Something akin to that." He turned to go but then stopped. "Her name, you didn't say –"

"Annette." Clark answered curtly and Edge nodded, turning to go again.

"I'm sure she'll make a wonderful trophy wife one day." With his parting words he walked out, leaving Clark to ponder his words.

* * *

This was originally way longer but I cut the original chapter into two parts so that I could get this out quicker (I'm a horrible typist). So, nest chapter, Annette and Clark will go gallivanting to Smallville, Annette will run into two people looking for their son, Lex will be rescued and the ise cream sundae will finally be eaten. Sorry for the delay. 

Oh yeah, if anyone here reads HarryPotter fics, could you check out my new story The Interior? Go to h tt p/ w w w .f a n f I c t i o n. n e t / s/2 651 90 2/1 / (retype link). No one's read it yet…

Review Responses: 

Anon id # 2035473409: "think you've got your numbers massively off. IF she was making 36000 dollars a MONTH she wouldn't be living on the street... she'd be living in a mansion." Typo, that was supposed to be about 3600ish a month "3600 a month would still be VERY good money." I know, I've developed a back story for this in case it comes up again so, thanks for pointing that out.

elbowface: "i like the annette sweet coddling of clark, after he takes off the ring. the whole scene naked annette has just the right mix of sweet and naughty." Wasn't it the cutest? I was like, how would Clark react to that at this point in his life? They couldn't exactly have sex so I made them cuddle. "i'm a little curious why she wouldn't have used her magic to defend herself earlier--in the previous chapter, you mentioned that a john roughed her up pretty badly at some point--did i miss something?" No, she quit cold turkey. I guess I didn't really explain that though in the last chapter "She'd sworn off magic for good, but for some reason she'd felt the need to break her oath just to put Kal-EL to sleep…". In the 2nd chapter, she did consider twitching her nose, if you remember, but decided against it. She's basically trying to be a normal human – like the show.

Max: "Great chapter," That's sweet. "can't wait to see where this is going." Nothing really happened in this chapter but they're going to Smallville next chapter so… "BTW, your bf is a jerk for blowing you off - don't let him treat you like that." He's hot though…I'm sorry, I'm kinda vain. LOLZ. Thinking of breaking up with him though.

south manger 2004: "Clark had sex with hardly know." Er, you mean did Clark have sex w/ someone he hardly knows? No, he didn't. He went to sleep… I think you need to do grammer check or something. I really don't understand that.

Scary-Girly: Sounds like a good movie. A movie I'm really dying to watch is RENT. It seems so cool! Hope you liked this chapter.

Celtic Cross:  
"I was SO not expecting her to be a witch!" I was going for the big shock! "When and howis Clark going to find out?" That remains to be seen… "Thanks for giving me that web address" I barely have time to watch either so it was my pleasure. I hope you liked the site, it's pretty cool. They have other transcripts too. "I do think you could make the chapters a little longer though." This was longer but then I had to cut it short, the problem is I'm a terribly slow typist with tons of homework and nearly no free time. Sorry, luvz SS4EVA

Harish: "Clark gets lost and an entire choclate sundae is consumed" Yeah, that was originally part of this chapter but then I decided to cut it into the next chapter. I'm so terribly sorry! "i totally love the shout out to bewitched" Thanx. I watched like 15 mins of the movie and I didn't think it was that good and I was on chapter 2 of this at the time and I was like, what if I did that? Of course, this will not have any plot links to Bewitched or anything except ONE thing. You'll find out what it is in chapter six. "annette is a refreshing oc" Thank you, I try really hard.


	5. Memorials and Ice Cream

The long awaited chapter is here. Have fun and leave comments as well as criticism. And I'm just going to take a moment to beg everyone for ideas: I have **no** idea at all where this story is heading, if someone could just make some suggestions as to what they'd like to see, it would help me so very much.

* * *

Once In A While… 

Chapter Five: Memorials and Ice Cream

* * *

"Annette?" Clark gently shook her awake and she slowly came to. 

"Clark…" She groaned, holding her head as she looked around. Her eyes widened as she realized they were sitting on a bench in the middle of some park.

"W – where are we?" Clark frowned, ignoring her question.

"Does your head hurt? You might have a concussion." Annette blinked, glancing down at herself. She was dressed in a somber black dress with heels. She frowned as she realized that Clark was dressed in black as well.

"You were unconscious, so I changed you." Clark answered her unasked question. "and we're in Smallville. My – friend's – " Clark hesitated, his demeanor slipping for a moment. "memorial service is today." Annette nodded as he helped her stand up.

"Isn't Smallville hours from Metropolis - and how did we get here?" Annette demanded and Clark frowned.

"You ask too many questions for a trophy wife." Clark muttered under his breath and Annette's eyes widened. Wife? She didn't find the thought thoroughly disgusting but she **had** met him just last night…

"You were out for hours," Clark answered her previous question. "I was going to take you to the hospital if you didn't wake up soon." As he led her towards the Smallville cemetery, Annette decided that they must have taken a cab into town. She would have delved more on the topic but the way her head was hammering and the way her legs felt weak kept her from doing a great deal of thinking.

"…he was the greatest son a man could ask for." Annette's eyes widened as she realized just who was up at the podium.

"Clark, that's Lionel Luther!" She whispered and Clark shushed her. He sounded irritated but Annette caught the amused look flitter across his face as he wrapped his arm around her small waist possessively.

"If he only knew how proud I've always been of him…" Lionel went on and an angry look crossed Clark's face.

"…fucked up bastard, standing up there reciting crap at Lex's memorial…" Annette sent Clark a surprised look as she caught snippets of muttered curses from him but he steadily ignored her; the only tell-tale sign that he was aware of her presence was the way he drummed his fingers impatiently against her stomach as Lionel Luther went on.

* * *

Lana listened silently to Lionel Luther's words, trying not to cry. She missed Lex a lot; he'd been a good friend. 

'If only Clark was here…' She couldn't help but think. She glanced over her shoulder and up the hill to see if maybe Chloe was standing there. She froze when she spotted Clark standing there with his arms around a frail looking brunette who looked as if she were going to fall asleep any second.

She blinked in surprise and when she opened her eyes the brunette was standing alone.

* * *

Annette frowned, glancing around for Clark as she realized he was gone. One moment she'd been gathering up enough courage to ignore her hammering head and kiss him and the next he was gone. 

"Clark!" She called, ignoring the woman who had just on stage and was making a speech about how she, as Lex's widow, would never forget him.

"Did you just say 'Clark'?" A woman with red hair asked her, sounding hopeful; a man who Annette assumed to be her husband hanging on to her arm.

"Yeah." Annette smiled. "He's a – friend." She frowned. "One moment he's holding me and the next he's just gone." The woman and her husband exchanged glances.

"Clark Kent?" Her husband asked and Annette's brow furrowed as she shook her head, looking confused,

"I don't know what his last name is, actually." Though it was probably Kal-El, Annette mused silently. "I doubt we're talking about the same person." The woman and her husband nodded, looking disappointed to say the least.

"I suppose you're right." The red head smiled sadly. "I hope you find your Clark." Annette smiled back.

"I hope you find yours as well. I'll tell him you were looking for him if I see him." The woman and her husband nodded as she walked away.

* * *

"Chloe!" Lana burst into the school newspaper room, breathing hard. Chloe looked up from the computer she was working on for next week's byline. 

"Lana?" She frowned, surprised to see her usually calm friend so worked up. "What is it?" Lana shook her head.

"I saw Clark." Chloe's eyes widened as Lana went on. "At least, I think I did. I was looking for you so I looked up the hill and there he was – with some brunette in his arms, by the way." She babbled on. "And then I blinked and he was gone. And, um, where were you?" Lana finally stopped rattling on and gulped in some oxygen. Chloe swallowed.

"You were probably imagining things." She quickly waved away Lana's words. "It's normal. When you're constantly thinking of somebody, you start to see them everywhere." Lana sighed, dropping into the chair next to Chloe.

"Well, I _was_ thinking about him." Chloe nodded; distractedly checking the time and wondering how much time she could spare for a quick trip to Metropolis. "So, why weren't you there?" Chloe sighed.

"Lex wouldn't have wanted some luxurious memorial where his father got up and gave some bullshit speech about how close they supposedly were." Lana's eyes widened in surprise at Chloe's language.

"Chloe!" Chloe sighed.

"It's the truth and you know it." Lana's face fell and she nodded. "Anyways, we don't know if Lex is even really dead or not. He could be stowed away on some private island living it up for all we know."

* * *

Lex shuddered as the officer helped him onto the helicopter. He was scared, his brain screaming for him to run – yet the fact that this was the first ounce of civilization he'd seen in months told him he'd be an idiot to turn it down. 

"He tried to kill me." Lex murmured. "He killed his father and he's going to kill me too..."

"He's hallucinating." One of the men told the leader. "There's nobody else on this island. We've checked." Lex shook his head.

"No! He's real. He's going to kill us all!" The leader sighed.

"Knock him out." Lex gasped as somebody hit him over the head and everything faded away.

* * *

Annette walked through the small town, utterly annoyed. Clark had disappeared and left her all by herself. A playful smirk slowly overtook her features and she discreetly twitched her nose. 

Clark appeared in front of her, looking confused as to where he was.

"I-" He stared at her. "Where'd you come from?" Annette shrugged innocently.

"I dunno, Clark. I think the better question is -where did you come from?"

* * *

Jonathon and Martha hurried up to the barn, calling in vain for Clark. 

"He was here…" Martha whispered and Jonathon sighed, looking weary.

"I guess he was."

* * *

Annette sat in a restaurant with Clark, happily munching her way through her chocolate sprinkle sundae as her foresaid accomplice watched her looking undeniably amused. 

"What it is? Are you high?" Annette asked, pouring more syrup onto her sundae. Clark swallowed took a bite of his eggs.

"I bring you to Metropolis's finest and you order a sundae – which isn't even a proper breakfast entree by the way." Annette shrugged, throwing a smile his way.

"I'm a sixteen year old prostitute, Clark. I really don't care what I put in my body as long as there's tons of sugar in it." Clark hesitated, the ring's influence waning for a few seconds, then his usual smirk was back on in full force.

"You know what? You're right, you're only young once." Laughing, Annette offered him her spoon and he took it, genuinely happy for the first time in the last three months. All because he was with Annette in a high-priced restaurant at eleven thirty in the morning eating a ridiculously expensive chocolate sundae.

* * *

A/N: This is much longer then the usual chapter, a lot fluffier too. Annette's a very happy fluffy character and so much fun to write too! Angst is really what I've always written so this is kind of a different thing for me. 

As of now (if you haven't read the note I had up before), ffnet has decreed that review replies in the chapter will get us all banned so all review replies will now be put up at my yahoo group (Arezue; Desire), the link is as follows: ht tp/ tv. group . yahoo. com/ group / arezuedesire (retype w/o spaces). If you can't subscribe to the group for some reason, let me know; if you have a yahoo id, you should be able to get on.


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